"Of course, Microsoft Corp. and Sun Microsystems Inc., who have a long history of hating each other's guts, are not likely to work together for long. I think there were two major, short-term motivations that led the pair to resolve their legal and intellectual-property issues with Microsoft paying Sun a cool $1.6 billion.
"The first is that Microsoft needs to get out of legal hot water. While the Department of Justice antitrust trial remedies have amounted to almost nothing in the United States, the European Commission shows every sign of getting ready to hammer Microsoft, and Microsoft hopes this deal will lessen the blow..."
